October 16, 1943 Lockheed received a contract to produce the XP-80 Shooting Star, the first true American jet-propelled fighter.
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October 16, 1957 The U.S. Air Force launched artificial meteors that exceeded 33,000 mph, some 8,000 mph faster than the velocity needed to escape earth. Carried by an Aerobee rocket to a height of 35 miles, the nose cone then rose to 54 miles where shaped charges blasted the pellets into space.
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October 16, 1958 North American Aviation, Inc. received a contract to build the Hound Dog air-to-surface missile.
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October 16, 1963 The U.S. Air Force set up a nuclear detection system by launching twin satellites from Cape Canaveral into circular 57,000-mile-high orbits on opposing sides of the earth. The 47-pound, 20-sided satellites, known as Project Vela Hotel or Project 823, could detect nuclear explosions from 186,000,000 miles away.
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